Magic Jack vs Others... (Part 2)
To continue the topic on the best VoIP software and devices, you are about to discover which of Skype, Magic Jack and Vonage is the best in terms of price and customer service support.
First of all, a quick question: how much does it cost for you to use average landline phone service annually?
Phone bills depend on the region of your residence and the service provider. However, upon some research and investigation, it turned out that in average an American pays up to $500 annually. More exact fees depend on the amount of local and long-distant calling minutes as well as the type of the package ordered.
What about other options in terms of home phones? Americans do have a choice. They may choose among Vonage, Skype or Magic Jack, 
technical characteristics of which have been reviewed above.
Price is always a criteria subjected to the quality of the service you are paying for. For what it’s worth, Magic Jack charges mere $19,99 per year and the quality of the connection is good, even compared to customary phones, which do not always provide noise-free services. In case with Magic Jack, the quality of sound depends greatly on the speed of your internet connection as well as the quality of the computer.
Vonage in its turn, offers the Vonage World plan, featuring unlimited VoIP calling to landlines in more than 60 countries. For countries not included in Vonage World, or under other plans, you get exceptionally low per-minute rates. For example, Vonage World plan costs $25,99 per month. Local and distant calls within the United States and Canada and Puerto Rico are unlimited. Other plans cost $9,99, $17,99 and $34,99, depending on the deal. The quality of sound in this case depends on the Internet connection and in no way on your computer, and it is reported to be quite great in different parts of the US.
Skype offers free calls to any subscriber of the service in any part of the world. If you are in China and try to call another person via Internet in France, for instance, you do not pay a single penny. If you are trying to reach a person who is not using Skype software then it’s going to cost you 2,1 c with the plan Pay As You Go and 1,8c on the monthly basis. Monthly subscription ensures unlimited calls to landline and mobile phone numbers. Pay As You Go plan is applicable to Skype phones, which are completely independent of your PC. The company offers a wide selection of these phones to be used with Skype software: mobile, plug-in, videophones, WiFi phones, and cordless phones. The quality of sound is comparatively great especially with its recently launched software 4.0 for the PC.
The only drawback with Skype as compared to Vonage or Magic Jack is that it does not support emergency calls like 911 or 411. However, Skype does allow to send and receive instant messages as well as enjoy video chat services, unlike its other two rivals.
So, to sum up, if the only thing that you are looking for is to cut cost on your phone bills but to retain your phone number and still remain independent of your PC, then Vonage is definitely the best choice. However, you do not care about the number and the technical support but are willing to pay some 20 bucks for your calls per year then you are to choose Magic Jack.
The choice obviously depends on your needs only!